JACK PARKER 31 



well-nigh precipitous, over away past Helmsley ; but 

 the natives think nothing of it, mounted on their rough 

 horses or active ponies, while you tremble for your neck 

 or find that, having come out without a breast-plate, your 

 saddle slips back on to the horse's tail as he is making 

 his supreme effort to land you up some dangerous ascent. 

 It was positively awful to see Jack Parker shove his 

 horse along down these terrible places, with the most 

 utter disregard of all chances of a fall ; not even looking, 

 to all appearance, where he was going, but bent solely 

 on his business, with his eye on the irregular pack who 

 were ascending with plentiful music the opposite side of 

 the "gill." 



But as to Jack Parker, he was the facsimile of the 

 immortal " James Pigg," though he was not the original 

 of the character. In the days to which I refer he had 

 all his hounds "at walk" among the various farmers 

 a trencher-fed pack and it used to be most interesting 

 to see them dispersing this way and that to their 

 respective homes when the day was over. A sufficient 

 subscription was maintained to pay Jack and enable 

 him to keep two horses he never had more and he 

 had to make shift as best he could to obtain volunteer 

 " whips " from among the young farmers. 



At no time of the year was he idle. He would even 

 engage himself in August to go off on the moors with 

 the late Mr Digby Cayley and play the keeper. He 

 was a clever man with dogs of all sorts and very enter- 

 taining to any party with whom he went out. At times 

 his love of sport would break out in badger hunting. 



Jack would occasionally deign to come down into 

 Lord Middleton's or the York and Ainsty country and 

 have a day on his own account, but he could never 



